Now another joint effort is further strengthening the coastal wall that has stopped the edge of Newhaven slipping away.
Members of the Catlins community - which is about 6km southeast of Owaka, at the mouth of the Catlins River - built the wall themselves in December 1991, after more than 15 years of concern about erosion caused by the Catlins River.
Newhaven resident David Pearson said at the time 5-10m of the coastline was being eroded each year, and no agencies or councils would assume responsibility for the problem. The Department of Conservation was significantly against any project to stop the erosion, saying Newhaven residents had to ``let nature take its course'', Mr Pearson said.
Finally the Otago Regional Council, using emergency provisions under the then new Resource Management Act, stabilised the bank by having it lined with rocks. It was a joint venture, with Newhaven residents and crib owners contributing 75% of the cost and doing the physical work, and the regional and Clutha District Council paying the other 25%.
Mr Pearson praised the regional council then and now. The council has just spent $35,000 blasting rock that will be used for ongoing strengthening of the coastal wall.
Newhaven residents also continued to provide practical and financial support of the maintenance work, he said. Each household contributed between $100 and 150 a year to a fund used to maintain the coastal wall.
This year's annual round of strengthening was due to be done in April, and Newhaven residents and visitors continued to be proud of the community effort that had saved the community and meant its properties ``were worth something again'', Mr Pearson said.
The area continued to provide safe harbour, and everybody knew the coastline behind the wall ``was not going to move now'', he said.
